Living in a Blue Man Group Home

An eerie glow emanates from every room in my home since I recently purchased a dozen replacement bulbs for the night lights that guide me from room to room during the night. My daily goal is to avoid the step, slip, fall sequence that plagues me everywhere I go; hence, the night lights. The use life of a 4 watt bulb is brief, so when one failed recently, and knowing that others were not far behind, I purchased a dozen replacement bulbs of the "green" variety, heedless of the fact that these bulbs glow blue. Now, my home is bathed in blue light that creates an uncomfortable lack of definite light, but seems of suspicious origin when I wake in the middle of the night and need to navigate my living spaces. I am determined not to throw them out and purchase environmentally unfriendly bulbs that actually light up my life, but I will find and purchase the old-fashioned brilliant bulbs posthaste to have on hand for the next burned-out bulb.

Daisy is cold, and rightly so as the temps hover in the 50s during the day and the 30s at night, so she cuddles as close as she can get to me and shivers. We settle, she shivers, I react, she settles, I settle, she shivers, I react: the nights are becoming endless! Thus, I've decided to fashion a dog sweater for her that will be her very own carry-along blankie. To create this garment, I must measure Daisy so the sweater will fit her and not become a total waste of my time and (limited) talent. Daisy, however, reacts as if I am hog-tying her as the potential main meal at a barbeque and runs like hell out the doggie door. She won't return if she sees anything suspicious in my general vicinity, such as a tape measure or the work in progress. My intent is honorable, but Daisy is not the most trusting canine in my neighborhood.

Mia, meanwhile, has taken to picking up her sleeping pillow, which is next to my bed, and forcefully relocating it to the protected corner between the closet door and the amoire. This process requires far too much unknown noise in the dark time, especially with the banging against the closet door! Last night, the pillow seemed not to cooperate with her determination to position it just right, so the banging, tugging, and growling at the inanimate object consumed an hour that I could have spent sleeping.

Once both canines were finally set for the night, I was wracked with intense charlie horses that tightened my legs to the point of intense pain. It's hard to do anything about them because the primary focus is on the "dear God, let this pain go away" phase of the clenching. I know that heat helps, but one must straighten one's leg to be able to move, much less leave the bed for a heating pad and/or hot, wet washcloth. This is a new aspect of the general knee issue, one that is most unwelcome.

Alien blue glow identified, canines semi-settled, charlie horses minimized, and ah, finally drifting off to sleep when the phone starts ringing!! Dammit all to hell, but when the phone shrills at 2:13 am, it's never good news. I checked the called ID and found a "private number," so did not answer. The caller declined to leave a message, so it was back to the beginning of the let's all go to sleep process once again. I know I dozed off, but finally gave up the struggle at 4:15 this morning and headed for my day, the dogs now totally asleep and settled in at least until sunrise.